Feb. 20, 2014

There are many great traditions gardeners follow when it comes to growing perfect tomatoes, including planting a whole egg in the hole, wrapping the roots of transplants with a banana peel, adding sugar to the planting hole and others. / ROB ZIMMER/Post-Crescent Media

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Fancy new products come out every year designed to help gardeners grow bigger, more colorful plants. But sometimes the old-fashioned traditions of our parents and grandparents are still the best.

Gardening traditions and rituals are often just as colorful and eccentric as the plants they are meant to nurture, making them all the more fun to try at home.

Here is a collection of some of the most intriguing garden remedies that many growers swear by. Have some to add to the list? Post them on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/yardmd.

Seafood delight

Here is a great traditional gardening trick for tomatoes. Tomatoes love calcium. An easy way to provide it to them is to crush lobster shells, crab legs, clam, mussel and oyster shells and sprinkle around your plants. Simply scratch into the soil. Bring a doggy bag home from your favorite seafood restaurant and keep your tomatoes happy.

Sweeten the deal

Add sugar to the soil around rhubarb plants in spring, or water with sugar water for a sweeter crop.

Bury them deep

Jeremy Trost, Seymour, shared a tip he learned from his family. Bury tomato starters in a trench about 3 inches deep. They will grow roots along the stem and be even sturdier. Just leave the top 4 to 6 inches of the plant above ground.

Bigger broccoli

For bigger, crunchier, healthier broccoli and cauliflower heads, provide extra calcium to the plants by mixing crushed eggshells into the soil around them. There are many other sources of calcium that will work as well, but eggshells are a bargain.

Marigolds for mosquitoes

Plant marigolds around your patio or garden beds to repel mosquitoes. However, be aware that not just any marigold will do. Be sure to plant older, heirloom varieties because the newer hybrids will not work.

Coffee, anyone?

Denise Markowski, Green Bay, got this tip from a rose gardener last summer. Sprinkle used coffee grounds around the base of roses. Also place cut-up banana peels around the same area. Markowski said, “She had beautiful roses, so I’m saving all my coffee grounds this winter.”

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Saving mums

Many gardeners wish to overwinter the beautiful mums they purchase during fall for the garden but are disappointed when the plants don’t come back. Try this suggestion: After they are done blooming, dig up the plants, roots and all, and set in a sheltered area and cover with leaves or straw. In spring, replant in the garden. Wintering them above ground prevents them from getting excessively wet. It is the moisture that kills most mums, not the cold.

Mighty mustard

An effective, all-purpose remedy for multiple garden pests — think insects, beetles and rabbits — is to mix spicy mustard with warm water and spray over your vegetables. Add a few tablespoons to each quart of warm water and use a spray bottle to apply.

Healthy watering

Another watering tip that many gardeners use is to water tomatoes with sugar water as the fruits begin to ripen, which sweetens the flavor.

Suddenly sedum

Create dozens of new sedum plants for free by shearing back your plants in June. The original plant will come back quickly. The cool thing is, you can plant each one of those stems you sheared off to form a whole new plant. Remove the last few sets of leaves from the stems, then root in moist soil. You have instantly created dozens of new plants.

Saving geraniums

Overwinter geraniums by pulling them out of the ground or pot at the end of the growing season. Let them dry and brush off the soil, keeping the entire plant intact, roots, flowers, leaves and all. Wrap in newspaper to absorb any excess moisture. Hang the plants upside down in a cool, damp place, but not too moist. In spring, soak the dried plants in a bucket of water for a few hours, then replant.

Fishing for roses

One of the best fertilizers for rose shrubs is fish guts and scraps from those freshly caught summer fish. Simply bury the scraps beneath your roses. Many gardeners also swear by planting fish heads with tomatoes and other garden crops.

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Wrap 'em up

Many tomato gardeners swear by wrapping the roots of new tomato transplants in a banana peel upon planting.

Other tips and tricks for tomatoes include planting a whole egg in the hole or several tablespoons of plain white sugar.

'Sc-HAIR' tactics

Keep rabbits and chipmunks, squirrels and voles out of your garden by placing handfuls of dog or cat hair inside old nylon pantyhose and placing them in and around your garden.

Potato planters

If you plan to plant trees this year, try this trick, an oldie but a goodie. Line the planting hole with whole, regular russet potatoes, then plant the tree as normal. The potatoes will feed the growing tree as they decompose beneath the soil.

Controlling powdery mildew

Use a mixture of baking soda, oil soap and water to help control pesky powdery mildew on your garden flowers and vegetables. In one gallon of warm water, add 4 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of oil soap. Mix well and spray on plants susceptible to this disease.

A big, hairy deal

Another old trick is to add human hair clippings to your vegetable or garden beds. The minerals in human hair add enrichment to your soil.